This selection of alphabet books spans a hundred years and is probably of more interest to adults than children. Two of the more unusual books are the Anti-Slavery Alphabet published at the height of the American abolition movement and Little People: An Alphabet which could as easily be titled, “An Alphabet of Racism.”  This popular form of educating (and sometimes indoctrinating) children has endured for over two centuries. The form has also been used to amuse adults as can be seen in An Alphabet of Celebrities.

• The Royal Alphabet (1808):
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• The Merry Cobler and his Musical Alphabet (1815-1820?):
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• The Nursery Present, or, Alphabet of Pictures (1830):
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• An Anti-Slavery Alphabet (1847):
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• Footsteps on the Road to Learning, or, The Alphabet in Rhyme (1849):
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• The Illustrated Alphabet of Birds (1851):
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• Funny Alphabet (1850-1864?):
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• My First Alphabet (1865 to 1889?):
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• An Alphabet of Celebrities (1899):
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• Little People: An Alphabet (1901):
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• An Alphabet of History (1905):
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• A Peter Pan Alphabet (1907):
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